


Odd Twins Out

by Nevanna



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Gen, Halloween, Post-Episode: s02e20 Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back the Falls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 14:21:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13572384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nevanna/pseuds/Nevanna
Summary: Dipper attends a Halloween party at Mabel's college, and tries to prepare himself for the unexpected.





	Odd Twins Out

**Author's Note:**

> This was written in response to a request by the lovely Ellerkay.

Dipper is surrounded by monsters.

A vampire and a three-eyed alien are setting up a limbo pole in one corner. A zombie in a ringmaster’s outfit is busy combining two brightly colored drinks into a mixture that might be emitting sparks. An elf maiden with intricately braided hair crosses the room, and Dipper catches himself staring after her.

When Mabel invited him to visit her on campus, he was busy with the layout for his midterm project, and didn’t even realize at first that she was inviting him to a Halloween party in her dorm. He didn’t have much time to put together a costume, much less coordinate it with hers. In the end, he threw on his brightest plaid shirt and his most colorful tie, and let her talk him into sitting still for a few extra minutes while she painted his face.

She dashed away from his side when two of her friends showed up to the party, promising that she would be back, and he doesn’t want to be that pathetic guy who clings to the person who brought him. It’s not like he knows anybody else, though, which makes this scene feel a little bit too much like an anxiety dream that he still has sometimes.

The other guests have gathered into tight little clumps, talking about this professor or that performance piece or someone’s installation of sculptures that apparently resemble “fast food, but, like, _deconstructed_.” When Dipper hears the phrase “charisma score” rise above the hum of inside jokes, he follows the voice to a patched armchair in the corner, hoping that he looks casual. 

“Are you talking about Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons?” he asks.

The speaker, whose fedora is pulled low over his eyes, gives a little nod. “So…” Dipper’s throat is suddenly dry as he tries to get the next question out. “How’s your campaign going?” He wishes that this conversation didn’t remind him so strongly of his elementary school cafeteria, where even his fellow gamers usually exchanged variations on “who invited this nerd?” when he tried to sit at their table. He used to have nightmares about that place, too.

“We’ve been working on it since the beginning of last semester,” the guy in the hat says. “I don’t expect _you_ to know what we’re talking about.” He chuckles. “But I’m planning some plot twists that are going to be… _next level_.” 

From her perch on the arm of the chair, the elf with the amazing hair lays a hand on his arm. “Clyde, be nice.”

Clyde’s outfit and behavior suddenly remind Dipper, not of any particular nightmare, but of the “Dream Hipster” from Grunkle Ford’s journal. He’s trying to put together some kind of blistering response when Mabel sings out, “Found you!” and descends upon them in a burst of color. She’s attached purple leopard-print cat ears to her headband, and painted her face with a layer of glitter and the same feline nose and whiskers that decorate Dipper’s own. Bright pink butterfly wings extend from the back of her shirt and quiver when she flings out her arms. “So, Layla and Amir want to know if I’ve ever been to a haunted house,” she says as he leads him away. “Let’s grab a drink, and then we can tell them about Northwest Manor.”

“I think we should stay away from anything the zombie ringmaster offers us,” Dipper warns her as she drags him over to the bar. He wonders if they’ll end up battling another supernatural threat before the night is over, and whether alcohol would slow down his coordination in that fight. He wonders why both he and Mabel still dream about awkward social situations when they’ve encountered far more powerful nightmares. But when the two of them are together, he never has to wonder where he belongs.


End file.
